I. Required documents:

1. Application for recognition of certificate issued abroad (form No. 1);

• Certificates issued abroad may be recognised as a document confirming in the Republic of Poland primary education, lower secondary education, basic vocational education or upper secondary education or qualifications for further education, including qualifications for applying for admission to tertiary education, with account taken of the scope of qualifications in the state in which the certificate was issued;
• The application should be filed with the education superintendant having territorial jurisdiction over the applicant’s place of residence or, if the applicant does not have a place of residence in the territory of the Republic of Poland, with the education superintendant having territorial jurisdiction over the registered office of the institution with which the applicant intends to file the certificate.

2. Certificate:

a) original of the certificate with apostille placed on or attached to the document or a duplicate of the certificate with apostille placed on or attached to the document or a notarised copy of the certificate with apostille placed on or attached to the document;

The original of the certificate, a duplicate of the certificate or a notarised copy of the certificate with apostille placed on or attached to the document by a relevant authority of the state in which the certificate was issued should be filed if the certificate was issued by a school or educational institution from a state being party to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, done at the Hague on 5 October 1961 (“Dziennik Ustaw” [Journal of Laws] of 2005, No. 112, items 938 and 939).
The original of the certificate or a duplicate of the certificate is presented for inspection.
List of states – parties to the Convention

or

b) legalised original of the certificate or a duplicate of the certificate – if the certificate was issued by a state which is not a party to the Hague Convention;

The original of the certificate or a duplicate of the certificate should be legalised by:

• a consul of the Republic of Poland appointed for the state on whose territory or in whose educational system the certificate was issued, or
• educational authorities of the state on whose territory or in whose educational system the certificate was issued, or
• diplomatic mission or consular office of the state on whose territory or in whose educational system the certificate was issued, accredited in the Republic of Poland or other member state of the European Union, member state of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

3. If the certificate does not contain information about the course of education, the following should be appended, the documents referred to in section 3 should be issued or confirmed by the school or educational institution which issued the certificate or by educational authorities of the state on whose territory or in whose educational system the certificate was issued:

a) statement of grades received at the examination conditioning graduation from a school or educational institution or credit for a given stage of education,
b) statement of subjects and other activities completed at a given stage of education, together with grades,
c) information about the completed curriculum concerning:

• the curriculum content,
• the planned period of learning,
• the grading scale,

d) information about obtained qualifications for further education at a relevant level in the state in which the certificate was issued, including information about qualifications for applying for admission to tertiary education and the scope of such qualifications;

4. Translation into Polish of the certificate, after legalisation or placement/attachment of appostille, and other documents in a foreign language, prepared or attested by:

• a person entered by the Minister of Justice in the Roll of Sworn Translators, or
• a person registered as a sworn translator in a member state of the European Union, member state of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), or
• a consul of the Republic of Poland appointed for the state on whose territory or in whose educational system the certificate was issued, or
• diplomatic mission or consular office, accredited in the Republic of Poland, of the state on whose territory or in whose educational system the certificate was issued;

In the event that there are material difficulties with translation of documents into Polish, the educational superintendant may agree to accept a translation prepared by other entity whose credibility raises no doubts.

5. Authorisation (form No. 2) – if the applicant is not the person to whom the certificate was issued;

6. Photocopy of ID document confirming personal data of the owner of the certificate.

II. Place of filing:

Kuratorium Oświaty [Regional Board of Education] in Kraków, ul. Szlak 73, 31-153 Kraków (Filing Log)

III. Application deadline:

Applications together with documentation may be filed all year long.

IV. Handling deadline:

1 month, in complicated matters – 2 months

V. Contact persons:

Professional Pragmatics Department – tel. 12 448-11-13
Monika Broś – Senior Specialist
Milena Wtorek – Senior Specialist

Marta Rogozińska-Owsiak – Director of the Department of Educational Strategy and Professional Pragmatics

VI. Legal basis:

1. Article 93, Article 93a-h of the Educational System Act of 7 September 1991 (“Dziennik Ustaw” [Journal of Laws] of 2021, item 1915, as amended);
2. the Act of 14 June 1960 – Code of Administrative Procedure (“Dziennik Ustaw” [Journal of Laws] of 2022, item 2000);
3. Ordinance of the Minister of National Education of 25 March 2015 on Procedure for Recognition of Certificate or Other Document or for Confirmation of Education or Qualifications for Further Education Obtained in a Foreign Educational System (“Dziennik Ustaw” [Journal of Laws], item 447, as amended).

VII. Additional information:

1. Recognition of the same certificate obtained abroad may be done only once.
2. Upper secondary education and qualifications for applying for admission to tertiary education are confirmed in the Republic of Poland by:

a) certificates and other documents issued by a school or educational institution from the educational system of a member state of the European Union, member state of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or a member state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), qualifying for applying for admission to tertiary education in these states,

The foregoing applies to secondary school leaving certificates obtained in the following states: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Island, Israel, Japan, Canada, Colombia, South Korea, Costa Rica, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Mexico, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, USA, Hungary, UK, Italy.

b) IB (International Baccalaureate) diplomas issued by the International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva,

c) EB (European Baccalaureate) diplomas issued by the European Schools in accordance with the Convention Defining the Stature of the European Schools, done in Luxembourg

d) certificates covered by international agreements. List of agreements

Certificates referred to in items a-d above are recognised in Poland by operation of law and, therefore, may be filed directly with a university, institution or employer without the requirement for additional opinions and certificates.

3. A certificate which qualifies only for studying at selected faculties in a given state will qualify in Poland for applying for admission to the same or similar, curriculum-wise, faculties – Article 93(4) of the Educational System Act.
4. The procedure for recognition of certificate is not conducted in respect of certificates documenting credit for completion of school year or completion of school if the holder of the certificate intends to pursue in Poland education in a primary school, first degree trade school, technical secondary school or general secondary school.
5. Kuratorium Oświaty [Regional Board of Education] in Kraków does not send back the documents filed in the case – after the procedure has been completed, the documents should be collected personally or under an authorisation.

Attachments:

GDPR-compliant privacy notice
Form No. 1 – Application for recognition of certificate issued abroad
Form No. 2 – Authorisation